Silly cycling article- post feedback please.

spindrift said the following on 17/07/2007 12:11:

Quoted message said:

Brendan O'Neill is a bellend:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6900694.stm

What a load of stereo-typed bollocks! Typically, the red light thing
came up. Do cars in London always obey red lights and other traffic
laws? They certainly don't in the rest of the country.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd usenet.dont.work@plusnet said:

spindrift said the following on 17/07/2007 12:11:

Quoted message said:

Brendan O'Neill is a bellend:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6900694.stm

What a load of stereo-typed bollocks! Typically, the red light thing
came up. Do cars in London always obey red lights and other traffic
laws? They certainly don't in the rest of the country.

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though as
it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing though by
a bike. it's just much more obvous.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Roger Merriman said the following on 17/07/2007 16:02:

Quoted message said:

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though as
it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing though by
a bike. it's just much more obvous.

Down here (Weston-super-Mare/Bristol sort of area) it's blatant with
cars - by more than "just" changed to red. There are certain lights
where traffic can start going through on green, and there are still cars
coming through on red. A ped crossing near me is particularly dangerous
in rush hour, and I've had a bus accelerate hard through his red light
when myself and other peds were actually starting to cross. On that
crossing, I reckoned 85-90% of the time a car or bus will jump the red
light when I've used it.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Roger Merriman said:

Paul Boyd usenet.dont.work@plusnet said:

spindrift said the following on 17/07/2007 12:11:

Quoted message said:

Brendan O'Neill is a bellend:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6900694.stm

What a load of stereo-typed bollocks! Typically, the red light thing
came up. Do cars in London always obey red lights and other traffic
laws? They certainly don't in the rest of the country.

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though as
it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing though by
a bike. it's just much more obvous.

Plus cars tend to break laws more subtly, dangerous driving while
obvious and frequent does not seen to bring such gasps of horror from
the public.

Quoted message said:

roger

"spindrift" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6900694.stm

Quoted message said:

What's the point of that [censored]?

" Might government-funded campaigns that flatter cyclists as "heroes"
give rise to "conviction cyclists" - people who ride their bikes with
an air of moral superiority. "

Havn't read the article but I do have moral superiority.

Instead of some motorists harrassing or endangering us they really should
damn well worship us for the heroes / heroines we are.

Every week we do distances, go places or climb to heights they never will do
EVER in their lives.

Add to that the low / nil impact we make on road casualties, noise, wildlife
slaughter, rubbish dumping and fuel consumption.

Therefore we should be bloody well worshipped.

John
www.calder-clarion.co.uk

"Joseph Clery drives a van around London for a living, delivering
day-labourers and tools to building sites across the city. He describes
cyclists as "my worst nightmare".

"You never know what they're going to do. They're unpredictable,
especially at the lights."
There's competition for space on the UK's roads
He says cyclists have also "become more argumentative".
"I've had cyclists kicking the side of my van and shouting unrepeatable
things at me. Some of them think they own the roads "

Errr.... has this person never though of applying some introspection and
quiet thought, to think of WHY a cyclist might be driven (pun intended)
to strike his van?
Like the knuckle dragging idiots in the van which deliberately tried to
run over my foot during the feeder ride to the Tour de France and earned
a thump on the side from me?

I suppose that "thought" is an alien concept to people like him.
He's never in the wrong. He's never driven his van dangerously and
aggressively enough for another road user to actually have to hit it in
desperation.

Paul Boyd said:

What a load of stereo-typed bollocks! Typically, the red light thing
came up. Do cars in London always obey red lights and other traffic
laws? They certainly don't in the rest of the country.

'Tis nothing to do with RLJing.
As I've said before, if tomorrow a magic wand was waved and everyone on
a bike obeyed the letter of the law WRT traffic lights, it would
suddenly be something else. Like "they wear lycra" or "they've got two
wheels"

In news:[email hidden],
Roger Merriman <[email hidden]> tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell
us:

Quoted message said:

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though
as it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing
though by a bike. it's just much more obvous.

On the way to work this morning, I am third in a line behind two WVMs. WVM
1 stops at the red. WVM 2 switches to the other lane and drives on.

--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
Stop press! Pope still dead...

Stevo said:

Roger Merriman said:

Paul Boyd usenet.dont.work@plusnet said:

spindrift said the following on 17/07/2007 12:11:
> Brendan O'Neill is a bellend:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6900694.stm
What a load of stereo-typed bollocks! Typically, the red light thing
came up. Do cars in London always obey red lights and other traffic
laws? They certainly don't in the rest of the country.

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though as
it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing though by
a bike. it's just much more obvous.

Plus cars tend to break laws more subtly, dangerous driving while
obvious and frequent does not seen to bring such gasps of horror from
the public.

Quoted message said:

roger

quite, attaully yesturday driving though kingston lights went yellow as
i was close so i went though, the 2 cars and the van behind who
certinaly could of stopped with out sharp braking did as well.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Dave Larrington said:

In news:[email hidden],
Roger Merriman <[email hidden]> tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell
us:

Quoted message said:

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though
as it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing
though by a bike. it's just much more obvous.

On the way to work this morning, I am third in a line behind two WVMs. WVM
1 stops at the red. WVM 2 switches to the other lane and drives on.

yup do see a bit of that, though this is all rather place depended.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Paul Boyd usenet.dont.work@plusnet said:

Roger Merriman said the following on 17/07/2007 16:02:

Quoted message said:

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though as
it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing though by
a bike. it's just much more obvous.

Down here (Weston-super-Mare/Bristol sort of area) it's blatant with
cars - by more than "just" changed to red. There are certain lights
where traffic can start going through on green, and there are still cars
coming through on red. A ped crossing near me is particularly dangerous
in rush hour, and I've had a bus accelerate hard through his red light
when myself and other peds were actually starting to cross. On that
crossing, I reckoned 85-90% of the time a car or bus will jump the red
light when I've used it.

i suppose thats the large built up area sort of thing. M4 and M5 close,
though large areas are rual it's also fairly built up.

normally that type of driving that i've seen is roadworks or such.
certinaly does exist.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:02:15 +0100 someone who may be
[email hidden] (Roger Merriman) wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

there's probably is more by car. it's just the cars tend to go though as
it's just changed etc, while do get some very blaitent sailing though by
a bike. it's just much more obvous.

Yesterday I saw a "professional" driver overtake a bus, ignoring the
red traffic light which the bus driver was waiting at and then try
and elbow aside the streams of traffic which were crossing the path
of the "professional" driver, by the use of his horn.

The "professional" driver was driving a bus but, since we are told
that only cyclists ignore red traffic lights, he must have been a
cyclist in disguise.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Paul Boyd <usenet.dont.work@plusnet>

Quoted message said:

Down here (Weston-super-Mare/Bristol sort of area) it's blatant with
cars - by more than "just" changed to red. There are certain lights
where traffic can start going through on green, and there are still cars
coming through on red. [...]

Until recently, many lights in WsM were comically conservative and had
relatively long phases with red in all directions, I guess to give the
just-changed-RLJs time to clear the junction. Unfortunately, RLJers
learnt this, so started jumping through longer and longer after red.

The newest set at Boulevard/Orchard/Victoria doesn't seem to behave like
that. I wonder whether this is a change in approach and I wonder whether
a RLJ will come unstuck soon.

Next: can we get shot of sat-navs? I'm sick of drivers fiddling with TV
screens on their dash and not noticing other road users and I'm sick of
certain small lanes becoming unfriendly sat-nav-recommended rat-runs.

Regards,
--
MJ Ray - see/vidu http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Experienced webmaster-developers for hire http://www.ttllp.co.uk/
Also: statistician, sysadmin, online shop builder, workers co-op.
Writing on koha, debian, sat TV, Kewstoke http://mjr.towers.org.uk/

spindrift said:

Brendan O'Neill is a bellend:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6900694.stm

What's the point of that [censored]?

" Might government-funded campaigns that flatter cyclists as "heroes"
give rise to "conviction cyclists" - people who ride their bikes with
an air of moral superiority. "

What the freaking bumgravy are you blithering on about man?

It a view point by the author, and reading the comments many agree.
Though now the link has been posted, i'm sure the cyclists will be
there there with their view point, since there is always another
viewpoint ;-)

MJ Ray said the following on 20/07/2007 10:35:

Quoted message said:

Until recently, many lights in WsM were comically conservative and had
relatively long phases with red in all directions, I guess to give the
just-changed-RLJs time to clear the junction. Unfortunately, RLJers
learnt this, so started jumping through longer and longer after red.

The point missing entirely is that red lights don't just change without
warning - there is an amber light first (usually - but it's been fixed
now!!!) The amber light is lit for long enough that anyone approaching
at or slightly above the speed limit has plenty of time to stop safely
before the light changes to red. There is absolutely zero excuse for
passing a light at red whether it's "just changed" or not.

Quoted message said:

Next: can we get shot of sat-navs? I'm sick of drivers fiddling with TV
screens on their dash and not noticing other road users and I'm sick of
certain small lanes becoming unfriendly sat-nav-recommended rat-runs.

Yes - it seems daft that they've just singled out phones instead of
making all these gadgets illegal. The point usually made though is
"where do you stop?". Car radio? Adjusting ventilation controls? If
I'm driving long distance on an unfamiliar route I write out a crib
sheet in big black letters, and glance at it occasionally. Is that more
or less dangerous than using sat-nav?

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Next: can we get shot of sat-navs? I'm sick of drivers fiddling with TV
screens on their dash and not noticing other road users and I'm sick of
certain small lanes becoming unfriendly sat-nav-recommended rat-runs.

Yes - it seems daft that they've just singled out phones instead of making
all these gadgets illegal.

That'll be because the law moves slowly, and satnavs have only really become
popular very recently.

cheers,
clive

Clive George said:

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Next: can we get shot of sat-navs? I'm sick of drivers fiddling with TV
screens on their dash and not noticing other road users and I'm sick of
certain small lanes becoming unfriendly sat-nav-recommended rat-runs.

Yes - it seems daft that they've just singled out phones instead of making
all these gadgets illegal.

That'll be because the law moves slowly, and satnavs have only really become
popular very recently.

cheers,
clive

also you don't hold a stat nav but press buttons, aka like the car
stero. thus making it unlikely to go though.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

MJ Ray said:

Next: can we get shot of sat-navs? I'm sick of drivers fiddling with TV
screens on their dash and not noticing other road users and I'm sick of
certain small lanes becoming unfriendly sat-nav-recommended rat-runs.

My understanding of the law is that these (TV type) could
be illegal.
It is illegal to have a TV viewable from the driving seat,
and there are limitations about how much data a car driver
should be able to see.

I do not know, and would not like to guess, where the line
is drawn between a couple of flashing arrows, and a hi-res
satellite photo.

Paul Boyd said:

Yes - it seems daft that they've just singled out phones instead of
making all these gadgets illegal. The point usually made though is
"where do you stop?". Car radio? Adjusting ventilation controls?

Car radios are ventilation are regarded as a good thing,
especially for long distance travel as the keep drivers
awake. I think that drivers are more likely to adjust
these at quiet points of there journeys (e.g. waiting at
traffic lights).

Mobile phones however are likely to be answered, and used
at more complicated parts, when the driver would not touch
the air-con (e.g. through juctions).

Having said that, I have noticed more car drivers pulling
over to use the phone in the last month or so.

If

Quoted message said:

I'm driving long distance on an unfamiliar route I write out a crib
sheet in big black letters, and glance at it occasionally. Is that more
or less dangerous than using sat-nav?

IMHO less dangerous. You are reading something that you
already know, as long as you are not searching through it.

Martin.